What Is the Correct Baptismal Formula? by David K. Bernard May 10, 2021 ยท Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript) Kind: teaching Scripture: Acts 4:12, Matthew 1:21-23, Matthew 28:19, Colossians 2:9, Acts 3:16, Acts 19 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--what-is-the-correct-baptismal-formula Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ Well, as apostolic Pentecostals, we always go to the Bible for our answers. And particularly when it comes to the New Testament church, we go to the New Testament. We go to the teaching, preaching, and consistent practice of the apostles and the first century believers as recorded in the Bible. And it's interesting that every account of water baptism in the New Testament church that mentions a name or a formula, every single one mentions the name of Jesus. The name Jesus literally means Jehovah savior or Yahweh savior. That is the God of the Old Testament, the one true and living God who revealed himself by the name Yahweh to the Hebrews of the Old Testament has come in the flesh to be our savior as the Lord Jesus Christ. So the name of Jesus is that unique name that identifies who he is. So Acts 412 says neither is there salvation in the other, for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. That's it's speaking of the name of Jesus. Now, there are other people at that time and even today who actually are called by that name, if someone else is called by the name of Jesus or the Spanish Jesus, that's a way of giving praise to the Lord. The Lord is our savior, Yahweh is our savior. But in the case of Jesus, it actually identified who he was. So while other people have borne that name as a praise to God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the only one who actually personifies that name. He is the only one who actually is what that name says. And you could see that in Matthew chapter one, verse 21 through 23 when the angel told Joseph the husband of Mary who bore Jesus that you shall call his name Jesus, Yahweh savior. Why? Because he will save his people from their sins. And Matthew explains this fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, that a virgin will conceive, bear a son, his name will be called Emmanuel, meaning God with us. So Jesus, Jehovah savior, actually fulfills God with us. God is Jehovah or Yahweh. He's come to be with us. Why? To be our savior. So the name is Jesus. That's what you clearly see in Matthew 21, 21 through 23. Lord is a title signifying Jesus is the Lord. Christ is the Greek word that's a translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. In English, both of those mean the anointed one. So in the Old Testament, there's a prophecy of a king who would come and deliver Israel and he would be the anointed one. He would be the Christ. So actually Christ starts as a title and that's why throughout the Gospels, Jesus has spoken of as the Christ. He is the Messiah, the anointed one, the appointed king who would rescue Israel and by extension the whole human race. He would represent all of us as being a human who would conquer the devil, death, sin and fulfill God's plan. So the Christ, but in the epistles, it became more as almost like a second name or a surname because the only one who is the Christ is Jesus. And the reason for that is, as I said, many other people could be called Jesus. So how do you distinguish the one Jesus we're having faith in as God manifests in flesh as the savior from all other potential candidates with the same name? Well, if you use a identifying unique title, so that's why you'll see Lord Jesus or Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth or sometimes a combination, sometimes Lord Jesus Christ. The purpose of all those other titles is to identify the unique person who is the object of our faith. Now, when you look at the baptismal accounts in the New Testament, as I said, there are exactly five in the New Testament church that mention name or a formula. In every case, it's the name of Jesus. Sometimes it's Jesus Christ, Acts 238. And sometimes it's Lord Jesus, no mention of Christ. That's in Acts 8, 16. And so, and by the way, the other occurrences are Acts 10, 48, Acts 19, 5 and Acts 22, 16. So the common denominator of all this is Jesus. So no, I do not think it's essential to use the word Christ. It is a title, not a name. It is helpful and important to identify which Jesus you're talking about. So personally, whenever I baptize someone, I say because of their penance of your sins and upon the confession of your faith in God, I now baptize you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the washing away of your sins. And if they haven't received the Holy Ghost yet, I will say and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So I always use Lord Jesus Christ because that is the unique title that no one else in the whole world could bear. But I think the name of that one is not Christ or Lord, the actual name is Jesus because that identifies who he is. If you're going by the Bible, the New Testament, you'll find uniformly, as I've already said throughout the book of Acts, it's the name of Jesus is always featured as the central name of the baptismal formula. There are five or six references in the epistles that also refer back to Jesus' name baptism. There's one place in the Gospels, Matthew 2019 that speaks of the name singular of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Of course, that would require more lengthy discussion but what we find it is referring to one name that covers the entire Godhead. In Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily Colossians 2.9. So the apostles correctly understood that and that's why they consistently baptized in the name of Jesus. To summarize, the name of Jesus should be the central feature of the baptismal formula. I recommend adding Lord Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus Christ to identify him but I do not think the title of Christ is essential to the formula. As an addendum, some people get really hung up on what language you should speak the name of Jesus in, particularly there's groups that believe that his name must be pronounced in Hebrew for it to be valid. Could you just briefly address that? Well, God speaks all languages so I think if we pronounce the name in our own language, knowing who we're talking about and particularly using those identifying titles to express that, it acts three when Peter and John prayed for the lame man and he was healed, they invoked in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and then they explained in Acts 3.16, his name through faith in his name has made this man whole. So it's the name of Jesus but not just used as a formula. It's not a magic word. It's through faith in the one you're talking about. So anything that requires, any doctrine that requires exact pronunciation of a name in a certain language is using it as somewhat like a magical formula, not with the meaning. Acts 19, some Jewish people tried to cast out demons by the Jesus that Paul preaches. They had the right name but they didn't have a relationship with Jesus. They didn't know him personally and of course they weren't effective. But here would be my answer. As best we know, the name of Jesus in first century Hebrew or Aramaic would be something like Yeshua. In Greek it'd be Jesus. In English it's Jesus, in Spanish Jesus and on and on we can go. In Korean which I speak, Yesu. So when the apostles preached in the New Testament they primarily preached in Greek because that was the language of commerce used in the Eastern Mediterranean world. When they wrote the New Testament, the apostles and their associates, they wrote it in Greek. They did not transliterate the Hebrew Yeshua. They actually used the Greek equivalent Jesus. So on the authority of the apostles, I say we can use the name of Jesus in our own language because that's what they did. And I would also say God honors that choice because I've traveled to over 100 nations of the world. I've seen people prayed for in the name of Jesus using many different languages. And I've found that when we invoke the name of Jesus and faith, whatever language we speak, whatever is the proper pronunciation in that language, people are healed, demons are cast out, people receive the Holy Spirit. God actually honors the name in every language. So if the apostles could do it and God honors it, I think we can do the same today.